The present disclosure relates generally to videoconferencing systems, and more particularly, to a system for enabling communication between dissimilar communications devices.
There are numerous different and dissimilar devices used for communication between two or more parties today. For example, one party, or user, may be using a mobile computing device, such as a tablet computer or smartphone, to communicate while the other party is using a stationary computing device, such as a desktop computer, to communicate. As can be appreciated, it may be substantially complex to facilitate optimal communication between such dissimilar computing devices and to optimize communications therebetween.
In such potential communications, there are typically several parameters that need to be considered in order to determine an optimal means of communications between the two devices. For example, in videoconferences, a negotiation protocol is often required to prepare for the videoconference, as well as and who will initiate, or host, and who'll participate in the videoconference.
Set up for such a conference can also be substantially complex, due to numerous factors. For example, if the conference is going to include both videoconferencing participants and audio only participants, set up for the conference becomes complex. Connecting participants located externally to an entity hosting the conference is different than connecting participants located internal to the entity. Further, if the host or participants in the conference are located within an office, the set up for the conference may be different if they are located remotely, such is in the home. As can be appreciated, the more considerations and factors involved with setting up a conference and the devices used therein, the risk of errors in properly setting up the conference is increased. Thus, it can be difficult to locate participants, determine optimal means of connecting participants based on their communications devices, and effectuate conferences and calls that provide an optimal experience for the participants.
As the computing power and features found on portable computing devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, continues to advance their use is becoming more commonplace. Thus, smartphone and tablet computer users often desire to participate in conference via their portable computing device. However, a disadvantage of communicating via portable computing devices is that the experience for participants may be less than optimal.
To provide an optimal experience for participants, often there is a substantial amount of communication between the host and participants to set up the conference, prior to the actual conference. This set up communication can include determining where the host and participants are located, who will commence the conference, and so forth. The time spent to set up the conference may be substantial. Thus it would be desirable to find ways to minimize the effort and time required on the part of the conference participants to set up the conference, while still facilitating optimal conferencing experiences and device usage.
A related problem arises for a user in even determining which conferences or media sessions to participate in. Context-aware services can be used to assist the user in this regard. In general terms, context can refer to any aspect of a situation where an entity (person, place, or device) may invoke computational functions. Any given context may include information about the physical world and/or about the logical world surrounding the user and/or device. Information about the physical world may include location, movement, temperature, device characteristics, and other information. The logical world may consist of information about identity, privileges, preferences, and relationships in different domains, such as home, work, family, legal, and others. Historical information about any of these aspects might also be included.
Recent trends in computing are extending the concept of context to include many facets of the user's physical environment. Computing device characteristics such as screen size, communications capabilities, keyboard configuration, accelerometers, GPS sensors, network identity, and other characteristics and information are being added to accurately characterize the physical context within which applications are being used.